Roadsides, fields, ditches, disturbed, open edges of lakes, streams, and wetlands. First collected in 1894 in Ingham Co.

A Eurasian species, locally naturalized in North America. Often mistaken at a glance for Phleum pratense; Alopecurus blooms in early to mid-May, fruiting through June, while Phleum does not fully exsert its panicles until mid-June and fruits through July and August.